After almost two hours of nonstop driving at a high speed, Micah exited the interstate and took us down a side road. At first I thought he was searching for a motel, but there was nothing out here. No buildings, no hotels, no gas stations. It was just the broken road, the dying trees, the darkness, and us.

When he turned onto a dirt road, I began to worry.

“Please, tell me where we’re going.”

He was tense. I could see it in his strained neck, the way his jaw popped and his hand tightened around the steering wheel. More than that, I could feel it.

He didn’t answer at first, and I thought he wouldn’t.

“We’re here,” he said.

The tires made a crunching noise, rolling over dirt and rocks as Micah slowed the car to a stop in a clearing.

“What’s here?” Keisha asked the question on my mind.

Without answering, Micah exited the car. I opened my door, and before I was completely out, he was by my side. Rok flew into the clearing and perched on a low branch, well in sight. I smiled at the bird, though my smile vanished when I looked up at Micah. He was staring at me, his eyes … worried? Micah was worried? No. It couldn’t be. I must have misread it.

He averted his eyes and clenched his fists.

I followed his gaze and almost fell back.

Ceris and Victor appeared from behind the trees.

“Who are they?” Keisha asked, sliding out of the car. Raisa was right behind her.

“People I would rather not spend time with,” Micah said in a low, hard tone.

Victor’s eyes met mine, and my heart squeezed. Even dressed casually—in jeans and a sweater that fit his long, lean form—he looked too handsome.

However, Ceris was a vision from another world.

With each step she took, her white dress and her white-blond hair floated behind her as if she was a model on a catwalk with those giant fans for wind effect. Her skin looked silky and her clear blue eyes shone.

I glanced from Ceris, to Victor, and back to Ceris. God, they were soulmates. Like husband and wife. For thousands of years.

Since the beginning, I never stood a chance against Ceris, but I hadn’t known about her. I hadn’t known who Victor was. I hadn’t known my feelings had been messed with against my will.

“Same here,” I whispered.

Keisha shot me a what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about look, and I shook my head.

Frowning, Ceris halted and pointed to Keisha. “Who is she?”

Keisha straightened. “I’m Keisha Cross.”

Raisa stood by her side. “I’m Rais—”

Ceris waved a hand at Raisa. “I don’t care about you.” She squinted at Keisha. “I didn’t mean your name.” She turned to Micah. “Her aura …”

Micah sighed. “I know. It’s different.”

“What? My aura …” Keisha asked, looking around herself.

“Hey,” Raisa called. “What about me?”

Nobody paid attention to her, and I pulled her to stand behind with me.

“I don’t really know who she is,” Micah continued. “She was helping Nadine when I got there.”

“What are they talking about?” Keisha asked me in a low voice.

Ceris narrowed her eyes. “Helping Nadine?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Keisha answered, dropping her head. After all she had fought against and all she had seen, always standing tall and proud, she now seemed afraid of Ceris. And calling her ma’am? What was the deal?

Ceris scoffed. “You could have done better.”

What the hell did she mean by that? More importantly, who cared what she meant? Not me. I gathered my courage. “Okay, enough of that. What are we doing here? Why did Micah bring me here?”

“I called him and asked him to meet us here,” Victor said.

“Why?”

He straightened his back like a commander about to give an order. “I think we have to stick together. All of us. These past three months have been hard on each of us, and I believe part of that is because we insist on being separated.” Wait, what? He was separated from Ceris? “We can only win this if we do this together.”

Raisa leaned into me. “What is he talking about?”

“Ditto to that question,” Keisha whispered.

“I’m not sure you want to know,” I muttered.

Victor eyed Keisha. “How strong is her aura?” I had forgotten he couldn’t sense auras.

Micah nodded a little. “Stronger than Nadine’s.”

“Then perhaps she’s involved in all of this,” Victor said.

“That’s impossible.” The words fell from my mouth before I could stop them.

“Is it?” he asked.

Not really, but improbable. If she was involved, who was she? What was she? Where had she been? And how the hell did I cross her path like I did?

Keisha kept her head lowered and said, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“We have more important topics to discuss right now.” Ceris waved her off. “I’m not sure I agree with Levi. We can’t function as a group.”

“Who is Levi?” Raisa whispered in my ear.

“I agree,” Micah said, his tone absolute.

“Of course you agree.” Ceris showed him one of her evil smiles. “You only think about yourself, Mitrus. What you want is to see us fail, so you can join Imha in her chaos party.”

Teeth gritted, Micah took a step forward. I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Not an easy feat considering his size and how much stronger he was than me.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” he snarled.

“I don’t? You’ll probably turn your back on us and go find Imha. Or you’ll go make your own Black Thorn and finish what you started.”

“Ceris,” Victor said in a warning tone.

Micah clenched and unclenched his fists. “You think so little of me?”

“Think so little of you?” Ceris snorted. “I know who you are, Mitrus. I know how you are. Imha might be evil herself, but you’re not far from it. I know you’re waiting for a golden opportunity to derail our plans, to betray us again.”

“You …” He lunged forward, but I held him again.

“Enough!” Victor shouted. “I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior from any of you.”

“You’re not the boss of me, Levi.” Micah spat at his feet.

Victor shot him an irritated look before taking a deep breath. He clasped his hands together. “True, I’m not. But I am what brings us together, what balances all of us. I am the centerpiece of our existence, and you have to respect that even if you don’t respect me.”

Micah jerked out of my grip. “With all due respect, I don’t want anything to do with you.” He gave me the keys to the car. “Don’t forget to ditch it after a couple of days. Police might not be worried about a car theft right now, but I’m sure if you’re caught, you’ll be in trouble.”

“What?” I glanced at the keys in my hand. “Where are you going?”

“I’m out.”

He turned and walked away. Rok jumped up from the branch and flew after him.

“Mitrus!” Victor shouted. “Mitrus, come back here. We have to stick together!” He sighed when Micah disappeared into the shadows of the trees. “It’s the only way we’re winning this.”

With my jaw hanging open, I watched as Micah walked away from me once more. The weight in my heart dragged me down.

“See?” Ceris smiled. “I knew he would walk out on us.”

Victor glared at her. “You said you disagreed with me, that we shouldn’t stay together.” He gestured in Micah’s direction. “There you have it.”

“It isn’t my fault,” she responded. “We don’t need his help. We can do this, the two of us.”

Victor shook his head. “No, we need everyone. You know that.”

Was he suggesting everyone as in me too? As nice as saving the world sounded, I couldn’t stay with Victor and Ceris. I would pull my hair out and scream until I was out of air and passed out. No way.

Besides, what could I do? Heal them, yes, but nothing else. I couldn’t fight. I couldn’t sense auras. I wasn’t part of their creed, and my visions were gone. They didn’t need me.

I turned to the car. “I’m out too.”

“What?” Victor approached me. “Why?”

Ceris sneered. “I knew she was weak.”

Three months of anger and frustration and deception surged into me, and I exploded.

“Weak?” I glared at her. “You threw me into hell and watched as I struggled. I—”

“I didn’t just watch. I was there. I helped.”

“You lied. You deceived me. If you stop and think about it, you’re not much better than Imha.”

“Don’t you dare compare me to Imha,” she snarled.

“It’s true,” I said, looking into her eyes.

She advanced a step, but Victor rested a hand on her arm. “Don’t, Ceris. You’re not helping.”

Ceris jerked her arm from his touch. “Are you defending her?”

Victor sighed. “I’m not defending anyone.”

“It doesn’t look like it. From where I’m standing, you’re on her side.”

“I’m on everyone’s side.”

Tuning them out, I marched to the other side of the car and opened the driver’s door. “Raisa, Keisha, are you coming?”

Raisa rushed to the car without sparing a second.

Keisha looked lost for a moment. “Yes.”

We entered the car, and Victor held my door before I could close it.

“You need to help us.”

I sighed. “I know. But you have made it three months without me. You can make it another three. I’m sure you can find me when you need my healing again.”

I closed the door, turned on the engine, and backed the car out of the clearing.

Once we were back on the road, Keisha turned to me. “What the hell was all that?”

* * *

The drive to Pittsburgh lasted a little over three hours with no incidents.

The only problem was Keisha and Raisa asking me about things I wasn’t sure I should talk about.

“You’re not gonna answer any of our questions?” Keisha asked.

We crossed the Welcome to Pittsburgh sign on the interstate. It was broken and rusty and hanging precariously from a bent metal post. The city was still here, but in much worse shape than New York City had been before the attack. Half of it had been sacked and destroyed. The rest looked like a prison in decay.

I sighed. “I don’t know.”

“Humor me. After all I saw, you can’t expect me to be surprised by much.”

I laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious. Tell me.”

I watched her. Why not? Soon the world would be at war, and by now, everyone probably knew what had happened to New York, who attacked the city. The creed wouldn’t be able to hide for much longer.

After confirming that Raisa was sleeping on the backseat, I took a deep breath and blurted it out. “Micah is also called Mitrus. Victor is also called Levi. Ceris is … just Ceris. The man we saw in New York is named Omi, and he works with a woman called Imha. They are gods, all of them. Their creed is called The Everlasting Circle. Thirty years ago Imha set up Mitrus to turn against Levi. She was experimenting. She wanted to see if she could kill a god. It turns out they can die. Mitrus killed Levi; however, Levi also killed Mitrus. Without all the gods, the world was thrown out of balance, and that’s why we have been living in darkness and danger and destruction. What nobody expected was, six years later, they were reborn as humans. Victor and Micah. Three months ago, Victor and Micah found out they are gods trapped in human bodies, and they need to become full gods again to restore the world to what it was before the darkness.”

I glanced at her.

“So … they are gods? Real, honest to goodness gods?”

“Yes.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she watched me with attention. “All right. Give me a minute.”

I nodded, expecting her to take way more than a minute.

“Wait,” she said, after fifteen seconds. “Raisa mentioned a Victor earlier. That Victor? You’re telling me you had something with a god?”

“Hmm, after everything I told you, this is what you ask first?” I glanced at her, and she shrugged. “Yes, that Victor. At the time, he and I didn’t know he was a god.”

“Okay, now I’ll need another minute.”

I shook my head, wondering about her logic.

Before her minute was over, we arrived at a barrier of soldiers standing at the road.

“Shit,” I muttered, bringing the car to a stop in front of them. Keisha turned around, making sure the weapons were on the floor of the backseat, and shook Raisa awake.

Two soldiers, holding rifles, came to my window. I pressed the button and slid the glass down.

“What’s your business in Pittsburgh, miss?” one of them asked. The embroidery on his chest read Wilson.

“We want to get to the train station,” I said.

“For?”

I frowned. “We are survivors from the New York attack. We just want to get to the train to go home.”

“Survivors from the New York attack?” the other one asked, clearly surprised. His name was Flores, according to the embroidery on his uniform. He pulled his radio. “Sir, we have survivors from the New York attack at the southeast barrier.”

“Let them in,” a sharp voice said through the radio. “I’m on my way.”

Wilson tapped the top of the car. “Go in, and stop your car by the large tent over there.” He pointed to our right, but I couldn’t see any large tents from here. “Let them in!” he shouted.

The soldiers forming the barrier stepped aside, and I drove in slowly. Now I could see the tent a few yards away.

“What now?” Raisa asked, yawning.

“They will probably want to know what happened,” Keisha said.

“I know.”

“What will we say?” Raisa asked.

“That we didn’t see much? We saw a few figures assaulting the city, and everything was burning but we escaped.”

“And how did we escape?” Raisa yawned again.

I parked the car before the big white tent. “With the car?”

“They won’t believe us.”

“Even if we tell the truth, they won’t believe us.” From the mirrors, I saw Wilson and Flores walking up to us. “Just play up being nervous and shaken.”

They nodded, and we exited the car as an older man stepped out of the tent.

“I’m General Andrews,” he said, halting in front of us. “What are your names?”

“I’m Nadine, and these are my friends, Raisa and Keisha.”

“How did you escape New York?” the general asked.

We told them what we had rehearsed. It was far from being a confident lie, but it was all we had. The nervous and shaken thing was working, especially for Raisa.

“They said they want to get to the train station, sir,” Wilson said.

“Yes, yes,” General Andrews said. “How about you clean up first? We have an infirmary close by. The nurses can take care of your wounds, and I think they have clean clothes too.”

“That would be great, actually,” I said, relieved he wouldn’t grill us to find out more.

“Wilson, accompany them. Make sure they are taken care of, and then take them to the train station. Come back once their trains have departed.”

“Yes, sir.” Wilson saluted before exiting the tent with us.

In the end, we left the car and the weapons there and drove with Wilson in a SUV to the infirmary. There, the nurses treated our wounds, let us shower in warm water, gave us clean clothes and tasty food. For those precious minutes, I almost believed we were in heaven.

After we were taken care of, Wilson drove us to the train station.

“Did you see what attacked New York?” he asked once we were on the road.

The “what” didn’t escape me. “It was all a blur,” I said before the girls could. I was seated in the passenger seat, and the girls were in the back. “Everyone was running and screaming. We were lucky to find the car and escape.”

He gave me a sidelong glance. “With the reports we received from there, you were lucky indeed.”

I remained quiet, and thank goodness, he took the hint and didn’t ask more questions.

The security was heavy at the train station, but Wilson made it easy for us. He got a ticket to Chicago for Keisha, one to Richmond for Raisa, and one to Minneapolis for me.

Keisha’s train left before ours. We walked to her platform, and when we stopped beside it she pulled me into a hug.

“I didn’t think you were a hugger,” I teased.

“I’m not. I just want to talk to you,” she whispered. “What happens now? I’m supposed to just go back to my life and pretend those gods weren’t talking about my aura and that somehow I’m supposed to be involved in whatever this is?”

“I think so,” I whispered back. “If you’re really supposed to be involved, don’t worry. The gods can find you.”

“That sounds crazy,” she whispered, before stepping back. “All right. Take care.”

“You too.”

She patted Raisa’s shoulder, thanked Wilson, and hopped on the train. As soon as it left, Wilson walked us to Raisa’s train. This time, the hug I got was real and tight.

“I can’t believe we just went through that,” Raisa said, stifling a sob.

“Me neither, but we made it. We got through. And you’ll be all right, okay?” I kissed her cheek. “Be careful.”

“You too.” She pulled back, wiping her tears. “And please, keep in touch.”

“I will.”

With uncertain steps, she hopped on the train.

“Your turn,” Wilson said, steering me to the other terminal.

“Thanks,” I said, when we stopped beside my train.

“Good luck out there.”

I nodded and entered the train. I couldn’t believe I was actually going home, but I had to. I had to see my family and grab some of my things, the few things I had left behind when I had moved to New York, before leaving them again. I couldn’t risk staying too long with them, though I had no idea where to go.

I reclined in my seat and sighed. That was a problem for another time. Now, I needed to relax a bit and be thankful for making it out of another battle alive.

The train moved, and I watched as the streets and buildings disappeared, giving way to the dark and dead countryside.

Outside my window, a raven followed the train.